#BlackPower IsFor BlackMen: A Necessary Discussion On Misogyny In The Black Community

We’re used to seeing women, mostly white women, get on Twitter and fight for feminism and against misogyny. But rarely, if ever, have we seen the black woman’s experience with misogyny within our own black community take center stage.

But that’s exactly what happened when #blackpowerisforblackmen started trending sometime on Tuesday. The discussion was spawned by trending topic #solidarityisforwhitewomen which dealt with the ways in which women of color are often forgotten or intentionally ignored in the world of feminism.

Shortly after that Jamilah Lemieux, Ebony’s Digital News and Life Editor, started an entirely new discussion about the ways in which black women are not only ostracized by white women but black men as well: #blackpowerisforblackmen.

The hash tag is not to be taken literally. Initially, black pride was probably meant to include black women. However misogynistic attitudes are not limited to white men. We all know they are as equally pervasive, if not more so, in the black community and black women have borne a lot of that burden. Lemieux was saying that the very same people who are promoting black equality and fighting towards the end of racism are those who oppress black women.

And because educated, black women run social media, particularly Twitter, the trending topic caught on and was trending nationally for a bit.

Check out some of the best tweets from this very necessary trending topic on the following pages.